Revolving firearm.



Patented Nov.'5, 190i.

' A. H. s'r ow, REVOLVING FIREARM.

(Applibati on filed Mar. 27, 1899.)

3 Shaets-$hoet I.

(No Model.)

lNVENTOH No. 685,880. Patented Nov. 5, 19m.

A. H. STOW.

REVOLVING FIREARM.

(Application file d Mar. 27, 1899.)

, (No Model.) a shoots-sheet 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOH UNITED STATES PATENT .QFFICE...

AUDLEY I-I. STOW, OF MATEWAN, VEST VIRGINIA.

REVOLVING FIREARM.

SPEGHIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 685,880, dated November5, 1901.

Application filed March 27, 1899.

T to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUDLEY H. STOW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Matewan, in the county of Mingo and State of West Virginia,have invented a new and useful'lmprovement in Revolving Firearms, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of revolving firearms in which amany-chambered cylinder is made to revolve at the rear of the barrel,particularly revolvers of the breakdown class and the objects of myinvention are, first, to provide a firearm which is less liable to beinjured by blows or rough usage; second, to provide a firearm in whichaspring acting upon a lever by this means depresses the barrel andthrough the resulting action of the extractor-cam automatically ejectsthe shells, and, third, to provide at the same time a firearm in whichnot only the frame may be unlocked, but the shells automatically ejectedby a single movement of the thumb or finger of the hand which holds therevolver. I attain these objects by the mechanism illus: trated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a full side view of thecylinder and barrel, with a rearward extension of the latter along andunderneath the cylinder in the shape of a lever and herein designated asa barrel-lever, a catch and a portion of the revolver-frame in outlinebeing shown; Fig. 2, a broken front view of the revolver locked inposition ready for firing; Fig. 3, a view from above of a portion of thebarrel-lever with one form of catch; Fig. 4, a side view of another formof barrel-lever and catch; Fig.

' 5, a broken side view of still another form of barrel-lever; Fig. 6, afull side view of revolver, the barrel being depressed, and thusexposing the'barrel-lever; Fig. 7, a vertical cross-section along theaxis of the j oint-pivot; Fig. 8, a full side view of revolver, thebarrel-lever being on the outside of the usual joint.

In revolvers of the breakdown class the strap U, Fig. 1, is formed bythe rearward extension of the barrel A, the barrel being also extendeddownward at its rear end in such a manner and to the end that the barreland cylinder may be pivotally connected with the revolver-frame, thecylinder being the barrel-lever spring.

Serial No. 710,709. (No model) barrel by the center-pin, the said lowerpart of the barrel forming the usual slotted joint, consisting of thetwo downward extensions held in its proper position or relation to the iA and A", Fig. 2, and holding the idler or GX- T the said extensiontaking the form usually of p a lever or levers and herein designated asa barrel lever or levers, as a,'Figs. 1, 3, 4, 850., a suitable catch Bholding or releasing the said barrel-lever at will. A suitablebarrel-lever spring S, Figs. 1, 4, and 5, may serve to throw thebarrel-lever up quickly when released by the thumb-catch 13, thusdepressing the barrel and ejecting the shells through the resultingaction of the extractor-cam. The said barrel lever or levers may be of aform, as (1, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, adapted to engage with some simple thumbor finger catch that may be operated by the thumb or finger of the handthat holds the revolver, or the said barrel-lever may be constructedsolely with a view to giving strength, as a in Fig.

5, or the said barrel-lever may be constructed with a view alone tofurnishing a bearing for The said barrel-lever may be formed by therearward extension of either of the sides A or A", Fig. 2, of theslotted joint which holds the idler or extractor-cam, or both sides ofthe slotted joint may be extended rearwardly either as separatebarrel-levers or as a common barrel-lever, which may take the form oftwo separate barrel-levers suitably united so as to form a commonbarrel-lever. The barrel-levers may be of the same form or diiterent, asone to give strength and one to operate the locking device. Where thesaid barrel-lever is formed by the rearward extension of the slottedjoint it may be called an inside barrel-lever, as it will lie within theforward portion of the revolver-frame, that underlying the cylinderinstead of being so placed as to lie within the revolver-frame may beso'placed as to hem loo the outside of and by the side of that portionof the revolver-frame underlying the barrel when in position for firing.The barrel-lever may in the latter case be called an outsidebarrel-lever. Fig. 8 shows a breakdown revolver with outsidebarrel-lever.

Where the barrel-lever is so constructed and placed as to lie by theside of the revolver-frame, the barrel lever being also adapted toengage with a thumb or finger catch, a suitable recess containing saidcatch is provided for the rear end of the lever, as shown in Fig. 8. Asis also shown in Fig. 8, this recess is preferably extended forwardly inthe shape of a shoulder or ledge underlying the lever and intended toprotect it, as

from blows from below.

Outside barrel-levers may lie either to the right or to the left of theforward portion of the revolver-frame, or two outside barrel-levers maybe used in the same revolver, one to the right and one to the left,which may be of the same form or different, as one to give strength andone to operate the locking device. As in the case of the insidebarrel-1evers, the outside barrel-levers may also be suitably united, soas to form a common barrel-lever.

Various combinations of barrel-levers, as one on either side of therevolver-frame and one within the frame, may be used, although whetherthe number be one, two, or more they act conjointly and may be describedas a single barrel-lever made up of several component parts or piecesacting as a whole or unit. The barrel-lever on the outside of therevolver-frame has the especial advantage of not interfering with thefiring and revolving mechanism. It is-also well adapted to givestrength, in that in striking an opponent with the revolver the blow onthe barrelwill be transmitted to the frame instead of tending,

as heretofore, to derange the alinement of the cylinder and-strap withthe said barrel and may be readily adapted to engage with the said thumbor finger catch. The inside barrel-lever, however, is especially adaptedto furnish a bearing for the spring by means of which the barrel isautomatically depressed, may incidentally add considerable strength, andhas also the special advantage of being concealed within therevolver-frame, except when the barrel is vdepressed.

The form of the barrel lever or levers, whether inside or outsidebarrel-levers, may be varied largely-as, ,for example, the insidebarrel-lever, in order to avoid interfering with the revolving andfiring mechanism,may be bent out and around the firing and revolvingmechanism, or the inside barrel-lever may be flattened very much at therear end, so as to overlie, and thus avoid interfering with, the firingand revolving mechanism. The length also of the barrel lever or leversmay be varied largely. As an extreme the barrel-lever may be shorteneduntil it not only avoids interfering with the firing and reesassovolving mechanism, but until it barely furnishes bearing for the saidbarrel-lever spring.

The barrel lever or levers, whether inside or outside barrel-levers, orboth, are preferably forged vin one piece with the barrel, as shown inFigs. 1, 6, and 8, although one or more may be separate partssuitablyattached to the barrel and to each other, as may be desirable.

The thumb or finger catch is preferably so constructed and placed in theframe of the revolver that it may be conveniently operated by the thumbor finger of the hand that holds the revolver, or where more than onebarrel-lever is used a corresponding number of catches may be used.Three different forms of catches are shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. Inorder to release the barrel-lever a, Fig. 1, the catch 13 is pushedforward by the thumb or finger, when the two corresponding teeth, theone in the catch and the one inthe barrel-lever,bec0me disengaged,whichleaves the barrel-lever spring S free to throw or push the barrel-leverup quickly. The two teeth or shoulders shown in Fig. 3 are intended toengage horizontally, as it were, instead of vertically, as in Fig. 1. Inorder to release the barrel-lever, the catch B, Fig. 4:, is pushed orpulled backward. The form of catch may be varied largely as the bestpractice may require and may be pushed or pulled forward or backward orinward in such a manner and direction as its construction may makenecessary. Where no form of catch is used in conjunction with thebarrel-lever, as where the barrel-lever is intended merely to givestrength or to serve as a bearing for the barrel-lever spring, or both,some form of catch may be used in connection with the strap as atpresent. WVhere the said thumb or finger catch is used in connectionwith the barrellever, the catch atpresent used with the strap may beomitted, the rear portion of the strap simply resting in a slot orrecess formed by upward projections 0, Fig. 2, of the revolverframe andsomewhat similar to the usual catch-posts.

In View of the differences shown or sug gested and others which mayobviously be made it is to be herein understood that I do not limitmyself to the exact construction shown or described, but hold myself atliberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within thespirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In revolving firearms, particularly of the breakdown class, thecombination, substan-- tially as aforesaid, of the barrel, and therearward extension of the said barrel, along and underneath thecylinder, designated as the barrel-lever, together with a suitablerecess in the revolver-frame adapted to receive the said barrel-lever,when the revolver is closed, whereby blows on the barrel may be transmitted to the frame, instead of as heretofore, tending to derange thealinement of the cylinder and strap, with the barrel.

2. In revolving firearms, particularly of the breakdown class, thecombination, substantially as aforesaid, of the barrel, the rearwardextension of the barrel along and underneath the cylinder, designated asthe barrellever, together with a'suitable recess in the revolver-frame,adapted to receive the said barrel-lever, when the revolver is closed,and the barrel-lever catch, also within the revolver-frame, adapted toengage or release at will the said barrel-lever, whereby blows on thebarrel will be transmitted to the frame, without injury to theintegrally-attached portions of the barrel, while the said barrel-levermay be released at will by the revolver-hand alone.

3. In revolving firearms, particularly of the breakdown class, thecombination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the barrel,

to the frame, the said barrel-lever may be released at will, and when soreleased, the barrel may be automatically depressed through theresulting action of the said barrel-lever spring upon the saidbarrel-lever, all substantially as set forth.

AUDLEY H. STOW.

lVitnesses:

R. J. WATTS, T. D. BURGESS.

